Tala's Redemption
by Pernshinigami
Summary: Robert and Lee teach Tala a lesson he'll never forget, warning; shonen ai, chibi's Dark Dranzerness
1. Default Chapter

Tala's Redemption  
By Nyassa Kaiba  
Notes: Nyassa's team, the tribe, try out in the next fic of the series, Roster; Captain/Nyassa Hiwatari/Manitou  
Natari/Quetzal  
Carola/Kabakara  
Diana/Railion  
And no, the last name is not a mistake, you'll find out in the next fic.  
***  
  
"Do you hear the people sing?   
Singing the songs of angry men.   
It is the music of a people who will not be slaves again!   
When the beating of your heart,   
Echoes the beating of the drums,   
There is a life about to start when tomorrow comes!" - "Do you hear the People Sing?" Les Miserables  
  
Chapter 1   
  
Tala fell, deep, deep into darkness. Memories flashed through his mind. Wolborg had left him. He'd been stupid, Robert had tricked him. He'd said out loud that he didn't care about Wolborg, called him 'a few bits of digital data programmed to look like animals and gods.' When Nyassa had offered him a rematch of the last battle they'd fought, Wolborg had turned on him, returning to his Beyblade and refusing to come out.   
  
He felt numb, cold. It was too much, and he was so tired. It was so easy to just give up. Voltaire controlled him, had complete control over his fate. Even if he did break away, like Kai had, where would he go? What would he do?   
  
//what...what happened? There was pain, I fell... then...black...hurts...// A bubble of black energy formed around him, slowing Tala's fall into a realm of buttes and canyons, but with no sky. Tala landed standing, and faceing... //no way...that's... ME!!// Tala was looking at his mirror image, almost. There were a few differences. This Tala's hair was more orange than red. His eyes were army green, not emerald. His skin was deathly pale. "you're... you're me..." Tala managed to stammer out.   
  
"I'm not you." The other Tala deadpanned.   
  
"But..."  
  
"I OWN YOU!!!" Tala's doppelganger shouted, thrusting his hand forward. Threads of black light lanced out of the darkness, snaring the leader of the demolition boys. Tala screamed in pain. His strength! His doppelganger, for that was only what the other him could be, was leeching his strength!!   
  
~the warren~  
  
Tala's scream echoed through the heads of the three teams assembled. Kabakara/Carola, Salamalyon/Jonny, and Galzzly/Gary crouched in a line across the far narrow end of the courtyard that housed the practice dishes in the warren.   
  
//It's Tala!!// Griffolyon screeched.  
  
//Something has gone wrong!!!// Galeon roared in rage.   
  
//GO GO GO GOGOGOGO!!// Nyassa commanded. A streak of silver, a streak of gold, and a streak of purple followed the three teams into Dreamworld.   
  
Griffolyon, Amphilyon and Unicolyon landed on a different butte each. Galeon, Galux, and Galman managed to slow their descent with silver energy shields. Manitou, Quetzal and Railion landed on Robert's right.   
  
Wolborg waited. //I need your help, he's this way!!// Wolborg took off like a shot, jumping from butte to butte. Galeon, Galux, Galman, Unicolyon, and Railion followed. Manitou, Quetzal, Griffolyon and Amphilyon streaked in a line across the barren landscape.   
  
Tala was on the verge of unconsciousness. His view swam. The black tendrils of energy were choking him!!   
  
With a roar Wolborg pounced on Tala's doppleganger. WHAM WHAM WAHAM! SWOOSH! WHAM! The air and landscape was suddenly filled with bit beasts!  
  
The air was awhirl with familiar faces, framed in light! Gold, purple, silver... Nyassa, Robert, Lee... Tala wasn't sure which he saw, the human or the beast.  
  
//Tala, stay awake!// Lee hauled him to his feet. Unable to stand, Tala couldn't find the strength to answer.   
  
//You must Tala.// Robert said grimly. //That... that thing... almost killed you.//  
  
//so...tired...weak...// Tala gasped. Energy flowed into him.   
  
//Take our energy. We're not drained to the bone like you are.// Enrique offered.   
  
//Stay strong.// Oliver said with a wink. //You can do it!//   
  
//You've gotta keep going no matter what! Kai didn't let Voltaire's tricks deceive him for a minute!// Mariah reminded him.  
  
//That's because...// Kevin moved into view. //He had his friends with him every step of the way!//  
  
//And we're here for you.// Nyassa said with a gentle smile. //Because we're your friends. And we always have been.//  
  
//Voltaire was only using you as a pawn.// Diana agreed.   
  
//Just like he used me.// Natari added. //But we learned to live our own lives, and not take orders from anybody else!//  
  
//Remember, that Doppelganger represents everything evil about your personality.// Robert told him. //That includes the control that Voltaire exercised over you during the tournament.//  
  
//You'll never be able to kill him. But you can seal him away from the rest of your mind.// Lee said encouragingly.  
  
//But... how?// Tala demanded. //I'm ...confused...// Tala was still trembling from the terrible encounter.   
  
//Remember what you stand for!// Mariah exclaimed, spreading her hands wide.   
  
//And never back down!!// Kevin agreed. //Remember! You control your fate!! The battle is up to you!!//   
  
//We'll be standing by to help you.// Nyassa said calmly. //But there's nobody who can win this battle but you!//  
  
//You have to find the power to break away!!// Oliver encouraged. //You have the power!!//  
  
//You have the control!!// Enrique agreed.   
  
//Remember also, that beyblading is an art, an art of empathy, something that they don't teach you at your precious abby.// Lee told him. //You have to learn it on your own!//  
  
//I...control me...?// Tala blinked in surprise.   
  
//Yes Tala.// Robert said with a smile. He was finally starting to get it. The figures of the assembled beybladers melted back into their bit beasts. //You control your fate...// With that, the bit beasts began to fade. //You have the power...//   
  
Tala was left alone with Wolborg. //He speaks the truth.// Wolborg said calmly. //The truth was in front of you, and you were blind to it... come back with me... I will show you what you never saw all along...//  
  
The area around him faded out...  
  
~the warren~   
  
Oliver tumbled into the room, babbling in French. "ROBERT!! TURN ON CNN!! HURRY!!"   
  
Robert cautiously turned on the correct station. It was Kevin's TV, and the last time one of them had used it, the Tiger had shouted at them for about an hour. The announcer said, with the detachment of a trained journalist. "...President of Biovolt company has suffered a stroke and is in critical condition in Moscow Cardiac Hospital. The Doctor says that it is unlikely he'll recover..." Robert froze. An instant later, Griffolyon screamed in rage. Oliver covered his ears in a vain attempt to block out the telepathic 'noise'.   
  
"LOOK AT THAT!!" Lee pointed out the window. Galeon, the other tiger beasts behind him, and Griffolyon, his fellow Majestics bit beasts to his right, had their eyes turned to the sky.   
  
//The dark pheonix has escaped!!!// Galman was practically bouncing off walls, and was NOT responding to Kevin's attempts to calm him down. //HE HAS GONE TO THE ABBEY!!//   
  
"Fuck." Enrique stated. "This is just peachy."   
  
"Dark Dranzer has escaped? How could..." Lee and Robert looked at each other a moment. "KAI!!" Robert snatched at the cell-phone the BBA had given him for contacting other captains. He dialed Kai's number, hand trembling.   
  
"Kai speaking."   
  
"Kai..." Robert's mouth had gone dry in fear. He knew what could happen, he could have warned the blade breakers. Instead he had stayed silent. How could he? He knew better than anybody the price of staying silent! "Do you still have Dark Dranzer? It's an emergency. Something is terribly wrong. I'm at the warren... all our beyblades are going berzerk!!"  
  
"I still have him yes. Just a second, I'll be right back." There was a rustling noise as Kai dug in his pouch for Dark Dranzer's chip. There was a clatter as the pouch was dropped in shock. "R...Robert, you still there?"  
  
"I am."  
  
"Dark Dranzer, his chip...it's blank..."  
  
"Get the other Blade Breakers and get your butts down here!!" Lee shouted, practically panicked.   
  
"Stay calm Lee." Mariah had entered in the interim.  
  
"But... this is terrible! You and Kevin saw the news! It CAN'T be a coincidence!!"   
  
"We're coming." Kai said with a growl. 'Good' Robert thought. 'He knows the situation is serious.'  
  
Fifteen minutes later Galman's panicked screeching alerted the two captains to the Blade Breakers' approach. Because their eyes were untrained, they didn't see the bit beasts that crowded the courtyard. Griffolyon had wisely 'hidden' the other beasts in shade form.   
  
"Is there a problem?" Kai asked, with his usual ice.   
  
Lee turned on CNN. "The doctor says that it's unlikely he'll recover. The damage done to his central nervous system is severe." The screen showed the hospital room where Voltaire was dying. Kai's eyes widened in comprehension.   
  
"Look carefully." Lee's face curled in a snarl, echoing Galeon's mood out in the yard. "Unfocus your eyes."   
  
The blade breakers did. Kai almost fainted. "It's... me!!"   
  
Not quite, this Kai's eyes weren't brown, but black. His hair was midnight blue, not the slate color it usually was. The scarf Kai usually wore was red, not black. Standing next to Kai's all to obvious doppelganger was... "Dark Dranzer..." Ray snarled. As the 5 blade breakers watched, Kai's doppleganger and Dark Dranzer glowed black with negative energy.   
  
"Kai's negative emotions, his hatred and despair, created THAT!" Jonny shook his head. "Kevin spotted it first. The kid's got a hyperactive sixth sense, I'm telling you!"   
  
"Or maybe just hyper." Mariah couldn't resist taking a crack at the youngest Tiger.   
  
Teew! Teew! Teew! Teew! 4 streaks of medium blue light shot from the Breakers' Blades. Dragoon, Dranzer, Driger and Draciel manifest just outside the window.   
  
//Tyson...// Dragoon rumbled. //It is time...//  
  
//We have hidden from you long enough, Kai... We are one...// Dranzer creeled.  
  
//Ray, we are one and the same! The same being! The same soul!// Driger roared in triumph.  
  
//We are connected Max, in our hearts and in our souls...// Draciel hummed.   
  
"What..." Kai sat down hard. "What happened to Grandpa?"   
  
"He suffered a stroke. We think that Dark Dranzer escaped and tried to kill him." Lee said, face grim.   
  
//Dark Dranzer is very old and very violent.// Dragoon rumbled. //There is not much that we can do while his is still in Moscow. Humans can see us in this manifestation, but they cannot see Dark Dranzer in his. We would cause a panic.//  
  
//No...// Driger agreed. //We cannot attack Dark Dranzer until he comes to us.//  
  
//You won't have long to wait!// Griffolyon growled. //He's coming for you once he finishes with the abbey keeper.//   
  
//We called you in for safety's sake.// Galeon agreed. //There are many of us, and only one Dark Dranzer.//  
  
//You underestimate him!// Dranzer crowed, panicking. //Once he comes for Kai, there will be no stopping him! Were we able to unite in body... myself and Kai, Ray and Driger, Tyson and Dragoon and Max and Draciel, we could defeat him easily. But there is not time to teach them the technique!!//  
  
//Where did the All-Stars get to?// Amphilyon asked, irritable. //I'd hate to ask the idiot for help, but Trygle is the most powerful beast on their team, and another flyer would be a valuable ally agains Dark Dranzer.//  
  
//Trypio says that Eddy is bogged down in homework, he's got to get through a stack of books and papers 2 feet high before he and Trypio can get out here. Emily and Trygator are trying their best, but you know how Michael gets sometimes. It's all she and Steve can do to keep him from getting out of control!// Unicolyon replied. //Tryhorn said that Steve said that Michael can't keep his head out of the crack pipe. And he used an adjective that I don't think it wise to repeat.//  
  
//There isn't much we can do. At least Kai's doppelganger cannot manifest outside of Kai's... fuck...// Salamalyon's eyes widened in fear. //He wouldn't try... would he? I mean, at this point, he'd have to kill Kai to use his body.// The bit beast looked at his team mates, //And that would...// he didn't dare finish. For a bit beast's connection to be severed from their chosen keeper, would kill the bit beast. That was what Dark Dranzer had tried to do.  
  
//He'll come and use Kai against us...// Dranzer bowed her head in shame. //It is a dark day. Today, our keepers live, but we must die.//   
  
//I WON'T LET IT END THAT WAY!!// Griffolyon whacked Dranzer with his wing. //What ever happened to Dranzer, the pheonix who rose from the ashes??//   
  
//THE ABBEY KEEPER!!!// Galman let out a screech.   
  
The bit beasts assembled in the yard keened woefully. Unpopular Voltaire may have been, but he was also the only thing standing between Dark Dranzer, and one of the most powerful Blade Warriors in the world.   
  
At the same time, the anchor said, with infuriating detachment, "We have an update on the condition of Biovolt President Voltaire. He passed away from stroke complications..." Kai blocked it out... //Dranzer... Where will we go? What will we do? The only place left is...// Kai fell to his knees, bursting into tears of confusion.   
  
//I'm with you Kai...I'm here...// Dranzer said, sympathetically into his mind. //We are here.//  
  
Ray knelt by Kai's side. "K...kai... are you okay?" The other boy trembled as he pulled Kai into his grip.   
  
"I... I think so..." Kai leaned into Ray's chest, sobbing. "I...I'm all confused."   
  
"I've got you... You're gonna be okay..."   
  
The reaction outside was explosive. //HE'S HERE!!// Dragoon snarled in rage, moving into a position to protect Draciel, the youngest beast in the group and his chosen mate. The turtle bit beast was trembling in fear.   
  
Driger roared challenge. Dranzer screamed defiance.   
  
//Where did he go?!!// Griffolyon demanded, whirling.   
  
//The other Kai, he was with him!!// Galman dove under the gate in panic.   
  
Kai doubled over as the dark beast clawed at his soul, trying to force it's way in, trying to sever Kai's connection with Dranzer. Kai and Dranzer screamed with one voice. "KAI!!" Ray cried. Then the doppelganger attempted entry as well, struggling to push aside Kai's soul. Pain shot through the Blade Breaker Captain like a knife.  
  
Dranzer reeled in pain. Driger steadied her, roaring challenge at his chosen mate's distress. The pheonix's muzzle turned gray with pain. //HOLD ON DRANZER!!//   
  
"Kai you have to fight!" Robert knelt next to the two of them. "Dark Dranzer is trying to break your connection with Dranzer! If he succeeds, Dranzer dies!!"   
  
Kai couldn't think straight. His mind whirled. He would have to return... return to the one place on Earth he didn't want to go... The place where he would be silenced, maybe for all time. His mind slid down into despair. //Kai...// Dranzer called him... //Help... me... you have... to fight him... dying... DON'T GIVE UP HOPE!!!// The final sentence was spoken, roared, keened, from 11 souls and mouths.   
  
A flash of green, gold and white, flashed across Kai's vision. Driger! //Kai... stay with us!! Don't let the evil in your heart win!! If you give up now it will consume you!!!//   
  
//Driger...?// Kai said faintly.   
  
//Feel our strength!!// Driger roared, and the other bit beasts faded back into Kai's vision.   
  
Kai wasn't going to let something like this defeat him. Somebody had once told him that the only enemy is yourself, and the demons you create. //Kwan yin... beautiful goddess of compassion, of mercy... grant...me your ears... If... if I have to stay silent... if I have to keep my heart... my love... locked away all my life... then kill me now... If I am to live free... if I am to feel love... and be loved in safety... then help me... LEND ME YOUR STRENGTH!!!!// The world faded back into view.   
  
"You almost died Kai..." Ray's eyes were filled with tears of relief. Kai staggered for a moment, disoriented. Then he gave his head a little shake, vision coming back into focus. He was being held, a soft head, fierce cat-like eyes. "Ray?" Kai asked, confused. "What happened? I was...and then Driger..."   
  
//The time has come to return.// Dragoon announced. Kai turned to see three flashes of light, one medium blue, one purple, and one silver. Then the bit beasts were gone. The world was sane once more. //If you need us Tyson... Don't forget to call.// And the dragon's laughter echoed through their heads...  
  
~tbc~  
  
Next chapter; THE ATTACK OF THE CHIBI TIGERS, MAJESTICS, AND ALL-STARS!! (Evil laughter) How you ask? STAY TUNED!! 


	2. Never to walk in another's shadow! Free ...

Tala's Redemption  
by Nyassa Kaiba  
"At the end of the day you're another day older  
And that's all can be said for the life of the poor  
It's a struggle, it's a war!  
And there's nothing that anyone's giving  
One more day lying about,   
What is it for?  
One less day to be living!!"- From, Les Miserables   
  
Chapter 2  
Tala and Wolborg were unaware of the tragedy that had occurred at that moment. //We must find your doppelganger. He is somewhere in your soul. If we can sort out why you turned to evil in the first place, then we can return to the waking world.// Wolborg explained.   
//Sort out why... but how?// Tala asked him.  
//We must go back...// The world began to fade out around them.   
"woaoaoaoaoaoh!" Tala cried as the desolate land of rock and black swirled into nothingness.   
The canyon land was replaced by a playground. It was early evening. "I know this place..." Tala looked around. "That was my favorite swing... and there's the spiral slide... and the monkey bars!"   
//More importantly there's you...// Wolborg inclined his head, tone wry, but also smug and amused at his Warrior's surprise.   
  
Chibi Tala was sitting on the swings, a very old, very dusty leatherbound book with the words "Moby Dick" printed on the cover in faded gold lettering, sat in his lap. Chibi was too engrossed in the story to notice an equally red haired figure swagger across the playground until...  
  
"Hey ditface!"   
  
Chibi Tala jumped. "I'm not a ditface Michael!" Tala shouted back, and returned to his book.   
  
"Guess what ditface!" Michael snatched the book from his hands. "My dad's taking me to see the Bronx Bombers play the Orioles! Don't you wish you could go?" Michael had NOT been a nice kid when he was 6. Tala had spent most of his childhood in the bully's shadow.   
  
"I don't care."  
  
"Too bad, the All American past time is baseball! I get to go see some of my heritage! I'll bet you don't know where YOU come from!!" Michael turned to look at the book, squinting to see the faded text and understand the unfamiliar words.   
  
"What's this thing called?"   
  
"Moby Dick." Tala answered, with genuine innocence.   
  
"Moby WHAT?!!" Michael demanded, laughing. "Why you reading Gay Porn at the tender age of six? Who's dick does Moby suck? I don't get it." The future All-Star frowned, then he shrugged and tore the book in half, severing the binding completely.   
  
"OH NO!! THAT WAS MRS. KOLARKO'S COPY!!" Tala exclaimed, paling in fright. The school librarian liked Tala, who was a regular customer at the school library. But she also was very strict about defacing books. That was her heirloom copy, one of the first to be published after Herman Melville wrote it.   
  
Michael laughed at the wanton destruction of property that he had just performed. Then he shoved Tala roughly off the swing. Chibi Tala, who was more innocent than his older counter part, wasn't prepared for the onslaught and skinned his chin and shins on the black top of the playground. Michael tossed the pieces of the valuable book over his shoulder. "See you ditface!"   
  
Chibi Tala lay there, sobbing. Then a pair of red suede boots stopped by his head. "Are you alright?" Asked another little boy with a strange accent. This new boy was a couple inches taller than he was, his face was framed by chin length purple hair. He wore a blue t-shirt with a Dragon on it. The t-shirt read, 'Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and good with ketchup.' The new boy reached down to help Chibi Tala to his feet. "My name's Robert. What's your's?"   
  
Chibi Tala blinked, dabbing the tears off on his sleeve. "I'm Tala."   
  
"I found your book." Chibi Robert handed it back to him. "I don't think that it's going to be readable anymore though." He added sadly. "Too bad, my mom says that's a good one. I'm surprised you can read it though."   
  
"It's easy, the spewwings..." Chibi Tala struggled with the word. "Are just diffwrent."  
  
"What school do you go to?" Robert asked hopefully. "Maybe we're in the same class!"   
  
Tala told him. " WE ARE!!" Robert cracked his knuckles as if that settled everything. "I'll meet you on the black top at recess okay? Lee and I have some assignments to do for art, but that's no reason why we can't share the art supplies!" That was a welcome relief for Chibi Tala. Most of the time he spent recess sitting alone on the swings.   
  
"Some day..." Chibi Tala said, balling his tiny hands into fists. "Some day Robert, I'm going to become so powerful that nobody will ever beat up on me AGAIN!!" The words echoed in Teen Tala's mind. He had almost forgot them, yet somehow he had managed to fulfill them. And what had happened?   
  
//What does this mean?// Wolborg asked. //Perhaps, if you hadn't met Robert, you would have been justified, but not after that.//   
  
//What do you mean?// Tala asked, worriedly.   
  
//I will take you forward a month or so. You will see.// The scene began to swirl around Tala again. This time he stood his ground. Tala found himself on the familiar school playground. He was near the 'Suicide Wall' Suicide was a popular schoolyard ballgame similar to racquetball. Chibi Emily stood about 15 feet back from the wall, racquet and tennis ball in hand. She moved to toss the ball and swing at the exact same moment that Chibi Kevin went streaking behind her on his way to play Shark Attack with Kai. Shark attack was Tyson's brainchild, but Kai had named it, and even surpassed it's creator in profficiancy. The game later became the namesake for Kai's old team, the Blade Sharks.  
  
Two things happened at once. Emily swung too far back to hit the ball and hit Kevin in the head instead, and the ball hit Chibi Emily on the head almost as if on an afterthought. "OW!"  
  
"WATCH IT!!" Emily shouted as Chibi Kevin, half dazed by the hit he'd taken, staggered on his way by power of sheer momentum. She rubbed her head for a moment. "Okay, one more time!" The future All-Star cheered.   
  
Emily moved the racquet back, began the throw, when a gentle hand held her back. The kid facing her had African skin, dark eyes, and short hair. He wore a Michael Jordan jersey. "You're timing it wrong. Here, let me show you..." Emily let the strange, big 3rd grader guide her hands. "If you pull the racquet too far back the ball will hit you in the head. All it takes is a light tap..." Thok! The racquet hit the ball, which sailed leisurely through the air and hit the wall, bouncing neatly back into the chibi's hand. "Now you try." He stood back to let Emily attempt the shot.  
  
"Okay..." Emily tried again, keeping in mind all the things that the strange kid had just taught her. THWACK!! The Tennis ball sailed through the air at 80 miles an hour in true speed. "I DID IT!!" Emily laughed. "Thank youthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!!" Emily glomped the older kid. "I'm Emily, what's your name?"  
  
"I'm Eddy, and someday I'm going to be the next Michael Jordan!" Eddy said proudly.   
  
"My name is Emily. I'm going to play Tennis in the Olympics!!" Chibi Emily proclaimed proudly. "I know all the rules... I'm just not good at mastering the technique." Chibi Emily drooped.   
  
"I'll help you... only..."   
  
"Only what?" Chibi Emily asked, cocking her head to the side.   
  
"Watch..." Eddy said, unenthusiastically. He picked up the basketball from where he'd dropped it at his feet, and took off like a shot for the basketball hoop. 20 feet, 10 feet, 5 feet. Eddy jumped, aiming for a dunk shot on the lowered hoop that was used to teach Elementary Schoolers the rules of basket ball. He rose, higher, higher, and then began to drop. Panicking at the thought of being embarrassed again, Eddy shot the ball from his finger tips. Eddy hit the ground, skinning his knee. The basket ball hit him on the top of the head a few seconds later, having bounced off the bottom of the backboard with an almost obscenely cheerful *BOOOONNNNNGGGGGG!!*  
  
"Are you alright?" Chibi Emily asked, eyes wide.   
  
"yeah..." Chibi Eddy answered, embarrassed. "It happens all the time."   
  
"That was something... you flew like the wind!!" Tala chuckled at the seemingly innocuous remark Chibi Emily made.  
  
"But I can't dunk!" Chibi Eddy frowned. "Jordan can!"   
  
"He's a pro, you still have to practice. I'll tell you what. You helped me, so I'll help you!" Chibi Emily said happily.   
  
//Do you understand?// Wolborg asked Tala.   
  
//Not really.// Tala replied.   
  
//Follow me then.// Wolborg lead his chosen warrior across the playground.   
  
Tala looked around him, sure enough, he saw Kai and Rei teaching Kevin and   
Mariah how to play Shark Attack. "I'm the champion!" Kai proclaimed happily. "Who better to teach a novice?"  
  
"Gee, you're modest." Chibi Mariah rolled her eyes.   
  
"Rei's the next best, so the two of us will demonstrate." Kai said proudly.   
  
"That's not fair Kai!" Chibi Mariah protested. "Tyson was the one who invented this game! Let him explain!"  
  
"Tyson has the chicken pox." Chibi Rei said calmly. "He's out for a week."  
  
"Oh great, so we get to let Kai walk all over us for a week!" Chibi Mariah rolled her eyes. "At least when Tyson's here Kai's so busy yelling at him that he doesn't have time to do his macho act thing."   
  
//This way// Wolborg led him across the playground. But Tala knew where he was going, the black top. They passed Chibi Max on the swings. Tala, a look of joy on his face, waved to where Oliver and Enrique were pouring over the script to some kind of musical, ("How do ya do my names Gavroche! These are me people here's my patch...") Meanwhile, Jonny was trying in vain to master a score that the music teacher had assigned. ("Stupid Music Teacher.")   
  
In a corner of the blacktop Tala found what Wolborg had brought him to see. Chibi Tala, Chibi Robert, and Chibi Lee were flopped on their stomachs in a half circle. Each was bent over an extra large sheet of construction paper. Between the 3 of them was an enormous box of markers, crayons, pencils, and colored pencils.   
  
"Whaddya drawin' Robert?" Lee asked, leaning over to see what the future team captain was drawing. "It wooks wike a burd!"   
  
"It's a griffen!" Robert proclaimed proudly. "It's got the front half of a bird and the back half of a lion!"  
  
"Dat sounds clumsy." Tala said thoughtfully, looking at the picture. He'd lost his two front teeth 2 days ago courtesy of Michael's unfriendly attentions.   
  
"Was she angry about da book?" Lee asked, eyes wide. "I got apple juice on Dragon song and she almost killed me!" Lee waved a marker in the air dramatically before resting the same hand against his cheek thoughtfully. This left a streak of midnight blue ink on his face.   
  
"She said that she knows a printer who can repair the binding for her, and that was just about the only thing that Michael really ruined." Tala said, wiping his forehead in a dramatic show of relief. "What are you drawing?" Tala asked, looking over at Lee's drawing.   
  
"It's a tiger!" Lee grinned impishly.   
  
"Why's it white?" Robert asked, looking over at it.   
  
"Some tigers are like that." Lee said with a shrug. "Mariah's got a picture of one that she used with her animal report last week."   
  
"What's it eating? A snow man?" Tala asked, cocking his head to the side curiously.   
  
"It's Mister Takayama." Lee grinned impishly.  
  
"Mister Takayama!" The three of them giggled hysterically. Mr. Takayama was the very fat 5th grade teacher. Despite his portly figure Mr. Takayama didn't tolerate laziness, pranks, or jokes of any kind. The students, therefore, acted up more around him. Lee had gotten a week of detentions for getting into a fist fight with a fifth grader named Steve. Lee didn't like Steve that much, mostly because he was intimidated by the kid's height.   
  
Suddenly, uproar burst out from the swings. Michael pushed Max off the swings, one of the highest, snarling something at the chibi. Max sat there in the dust, his palms skinned, sobbing. Michael cheerfully sat on the swing previously vacated. Max, seeing that nobody was going to come help him, slowly got to his feet. He limped over to where Robert, Lee and Tala were drawing. "Wobert! Michael... Michael... he..." Max burst into the tears that he'd choked back.   
  
"It's okay Max. What did he say?"   
  
"He...*sniff*... called... sob me a faggot!" Max burst into a fresh set of tears, "Just because of the way I look!"   
  
"That's silly." Lee stated.   
  
"Why?" Max asked.  
  
"A faggot is a bundle of sticks!" Lee and Robert laughed as they looked over at where Michael, with a great air of serenity, worked the swing to greater and greater heights.   
  
"A bunwu of sticks?" Max's eyes grew round in surprise. "Why's that so bad?"   
  
"I don't know." Lee looked up at Robert for an answer.   
  
"I dunno either." Robert said with a shrug.   
  
"Tala, you can look now." Lee said kindly. Chibi Tala had hidden his face in Lee's shirt and covered his ears to try and block out the argument.   
  
"I hate him!" Tala sobbed. "I hope da tigurs eat him up!! I'm gonna get so stwong dat if anybody does dat to me I'll kiww 'im!!"   
  
//NO!!// Tala, the teenage one, cried. //DON'T THINK LIKE THAT!!// Tala fell to his knees, sobbing. //I didn't mean for it to get out of control.// He sobbed. //I didn't mean to hurt everyone!! Lee, Robert, can you forgive me? I... I didn't mean it!! I didn't mean any of it!// Tala fell to his knees. //I was so stupid! How could I do that to myself? They were all there for me. All they wanted was to be my friend!// Similar scenes ran through the Demolition Boy's leader's mind. Tala shutting himself away in his room all afternoon, Tala turning down invitations to get togethers and parties, and finally, the memory he'd been dreading to see.   
  
"I'm sorry to leave you guys, really I am." Tala, 12 now, told Robert and Lee. "Don't worry, when you guys see me again I'm going to be the strongest blade warrior in the world!"   
  
//NO!!// Tala shouted at his past self in vain. //DON'T GO! DON'T NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!// Tala cried as his past self followed Boris into the bus.   
//I should have seen it before...// Teen Tala fell to his knees. //I didn't need to worry about being strong. I had my friends to help me... and I turned them away... Robert... Lee... forgive me...// Wolborg had vanished in the interim. //Wolborg?... Robert... Lee...?// Robert and Lee were walking off down the horizon. Wolborg was nowhere to be found. Tala was alone. //please... Kami-sama... let me make it up to them... LET ME MAKE THINGS RIGHT AGAIN!!!!//  
  
The scene began to swirl out before him. All was black once more. Tala slowly opened his eyes. "nnnggg...huh?" Robert, Lee, and their respective teams were gathered around his bed. Tala realized that he was in the warren. "Robert... Lee..." Tala looked around confused. Robert had Tala's hand pressed to his heart, head bowed. Lee was holding his other hand.   
  
"TALA!!" Robert and Lee exclaimed happily. "You're back!"   
  
"You guys..." Tears welled up in Tala's eyes. "I'm sorry... for all the pain and trouble that I've caused you... and if there's anything that I can do... to make it up to all of you..."   
  
"Can you guys give us a moment alone?" Lee asked the other two teams.   
  
"Sure." Oliver led the others out, although Mariah had to drag Kevin out of the room.   
  
"We want you to know." Robert told him, as Lee closed the door.   
  
"That we love you..." Lee took his place on the other side of the bed.   
  
"And that we'll always be there for you..." Robert added.  
  
"Y... you..." Tala looked at them, eyes wide in surprise. "Love me?"   
  
"We do..." Tears formed in Robert's eyes. "We couldn't bear to see..." He choked back a sob.   
  
"What Voltaire was doing to you." Lee finished.   
  
"So we talked to Wolborg, he said that he'd help you see what was going on, but that he needed help."   
  
"The bit beasts..." Robert smiled out into the yard. "They're linked to their Warriors. Even if we're not aware of it. That's why you respect them."  
  
"Then, when my doppelganger attacked me..." Tala's eyes widened in comprehension. "That was you..."   
  
Lee nodded simply. "We couldn't let him kill you. And that's what he was trying to do, because then he could take control of you."   
  
"You guys..." Tala threw his arms around the other two captains. "I love you... thank you..." He turned to each in turn, kissing them gently on the lips.   
  
When Mariah came in later, she saw the three of them curled up under the covers. Robert had ditched the metal accents to his uniform. Lee's necklace was set carefully on the bedside table. Their losened shirts and pants and the hickies on the three of them were unmistakable evidence of their... ah... activities. Chuckling softly, Mariah set the tray of hot cocoa on the table in the room. The scent would revive them pretty fast.   
  
But the scent did NOT revive the three of them. The clock radio did. Lee had set the alarm to remind his team mates that it was chore time. (Kevin especially hated this time of day and nobody ever believed the things he did to get out of it!) What surprised Tala the most was the song that was playing, because it seemed to sum up the days events and lessons pretty well... "It's about life,   
It's about fun  
It's over before it has begun  
It's about you  
It's about me  
It's about everything between..."   
  
//Well faught Wolborg// Galeon chuckled. //Well faught indeed.//  
  
~owari~   
I'll do another one in this timeline. Nyassa hasn't been initiated yet, and there are a few more fanfics to do before this timeline is finished. Don't worry, that's not the end of that!!   
  
Preview...  
Emily's got a little crush, "A tiger you say? A tiger maybe, she acts just like a tiger to   
me, I've never seen her till she's struck and gone!"  
  
Yo everybody, Tala here, in the next story, Emily tries to get Mariah to notice her, but that's the least of the breakers' problems. And how is the council of team captains going to react when I step down from leadership of the Demolition Boys? and will the Blade Sharks ever get a new captain? Plus, the World Tournament's Opening Dance is coming up! Who's going with who? There are dispandations, assencions, desencions, and initiations of teams in the next story!  
  
Whatever's going on, it's gonna be a wild ride. I sure hope I'm up to it. Since the last adventure, I don't know where to go or what do do! But I do know one thing, now that Voltaire is dead, I'm burning all my bridges to the Abbey, FOR GOOD!! 


End file.
